Santa Barbara County stands to receive state funding for a rehabilitation facility at the planned North County Jail.
Sheriff Bill Brown applied for state money to fund a 228-bed Sheriff’s Transition and Re-entry Complex, which would add 228 beds to the North County Jail. The STAR would house rehabilitation and re-entry services.
A steering committee has recommended that Santa Barbara and 14 other counties split $500 million of realignment construction funds. The Board of State and Community Corrections is scheduled to decide if Santa Barbara gets the $38,976,000 at a Jan. 16 meeting.
Coming up with 10 percent of the project funding is a condition of this recent grant.
Santa Barbara already received an $80 million state grant for the 376-bed North County Jail, which is expected to cost $96 million.
The county Board of Supervisors has to come up with matching funds for both facilities and annual operating costs.
This STAR “will be a model for safely housing criminal offenders, but also for delivering rehabilitative services that will change lives and ultimately reduce recidivism,” Brown said in a prepared statement Thursday, adding that it will provide a better learning environment for inmates and safer place to work for custody staff.
It will be built at the same time as the North County Jail if funding is approved.
“This was a highly competitive process, so receiving the recommendation for funding amid a crowded field of well-qualified peer counties is a remarkable achievement,” Brown said.
Senate Bill 1022 provides bond money to help fund jail modifications since counties are holding offenders who used to be sent to state prisons.
This realignment funding supports programs that transition people back into the community, so most of the other counties pitched treatment/rehabilitation facilities as well.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
